Character Sketch: Two Gentlemen of Verona
Nicola:
The elder of the two brothers, Nicola is a loving, caring and responsible
boy. This diligent boy takes upon himself the task of getting his sister
treated for tuberculosis and also showers motherly love and care on his
brother. He often lets his little brother sleep while he sells newspapers
late at night. He had bitter experiences in the war but his spirit was not
broken rather it has infused in him a rebellious spirit. He bears hardships
and never indulges in self- pity. He does not want sympathy and keeps
his problems as a guarded secret. Though deprived of all protection and
guidance Nicola takes life in his stride and devotes himself to his work
with such a great sense of devotion that even a stranger can see his
gentleman like qualities.
Jacopo :
Shabbily dressed like Nicola, Jacopo is the younger of the two brothers.
He has almost the same qualities as his elder brother. However, this 12
year old lad is full of life. The narrator found him to be as ‘lively as a
squirrel’. He has an air of seriousness too, which is way beyond his years.
But he is childish and quite artless at times. Probably, it’s his honest
innocence that makes him seek a favour from the narrator. This small
little parentless child is as lovable as he is loving.
The Narrator :
The narrator is a man of keen observation. Sensitive to the world around
him, he tries to see beyond the apparent and identify other’s joys and
sorrows. Though inquisitive, he doesn’t have a nosey nature. His helping
attitude and friendly nature bring him closer to the two orphaned
children. He admires the gentleman-like qualities of these shabbily
dressed boys. Considerate and kind-hearted, he drives them to Poleta,
thirty kilometres from Verona. A thorough gentleman himself, he never
wants to intrude into the privacy of Nicola and Jacopo. Hence even after
learning about their tuberculosis-ridden sister’s story, he doesn’t utter a
word and gives them the pleasure that they had succeeded in keeping
their secret.
Character Sketch: Mrs Packletide’s Tiger
Mrs. Packletide:
Mrs. Packletide is a shallow, vain and pretentious woman. Most of her
activities are dictated by her emotions of jealousy, ill-will and bitterness
against Loona Bimberton – her arch-rival. She is overpowered with
absolute jealousy and driven by her competitive nature and craze for
publicity. This hypocrite goes out of her way to plan her strategy to show
Loona Bimberton down. As wealthy as she was, Mrs Packletide was able
to carry out her whimsical endeavour of shooting a tiger. However, she
makes the villagers look for an old and feeble tiger to make her task easy
and risk-free. She even stoops down to bribe the villagers to look for such
an old, infirm and incapacitated tiger who would get killed without any
fuss. After the hunt, she shamelessly lets the press give her ample
coverage despite knowing the fact that she had killed the goat. She
humiliates Loona Bimberton by purposely sending her a tiger-claw brooch
on her birthday. Apart from being shallow and greedy, she is also very
silly not only because she wasted away her wealth to realize her
ridiculous pursuits, but also because she got manipulated into paying a
large amount of money to Miss Mebbin whose only intentions were to
blackmail her.
Miss Louisa Mebbin:
Miss Louisa Mebbin was Mrs Packletide’s so-called companion, who can
be best described as opportunistic and money-minded. She is a very
cunning, manipulative, calculative, stingy and money-minded person. She
could go to the extent of depriving the hotel waiters of tips to save her
money. Not only that, she didn’t wish to put in even an iota of extra work
than she was paid for while giving her services. This shrewd woman had a
good understanding of human psychology too. She succeeded in
extorting six hundred and eighty pounds from Mrs Packletide to buy
herself a week-end cottage. She knew the actual story behind the death
of the tiger which she used as a threat against Mrs. Packletide. This was
enough to twist Mrs. Packletide’s arm and make her cough up a large
amount of money as the price for keeping her mouth shut. The author
sarcastically describes her stinginess by saying she has an ‘elder-sister
attitude towards money in general’.
Loona Bimberton:
Loona Bimberton isn’t very different from Mrs Packletide when it comes to
being vain. She had been recently carried by an Algerian Aviator for
eleven miles and she had a harvest of press photographs. She was as
jealous as Mrs. Packletide. She declined the invitation to the luncheon Mrs
Packletide had thrown in her ‘honour’ and refused to look at a single
newspaper for weeks for fear of reading about her rival’s feats. Thus, in
conclusion, we can say that Loona Bimberton, like her rival, is a shallow
and envious individual.
